Hero
by xXACCEBXx
Summary: Something's wrong, and he know's it. He's saved one of his best friend's lives before, but this time it's Sam, and she needs help more than he could have ever imagined. But maybe he can be her hero.


**Not to say I'm trying to recapture the popularity of Bruises, but this is the closest I've ever gotten to that subject matter. It's not as cutesy as my other stuff. I hope you like it anyway. Inspired by "Smooth Criminal." If you don't know the song, you HAVE to go look it up. Named after "Hero" by Sterling Knight.**

* * *

**Hero**

_I, I can be everything you need  
If you're the one for me  
Like gravity I'll be unstoppable  
I, yeah, I believe in destiny  
I may be an ordinary guy  
With heart, and soul  
But if you're the one for me  
I'll be your hero  
_

"Sam?" she looked up as she heard her name, the dark circles prominent under her eyes as she met his.

"Fredward," she answered, sitting back in her chair. He looked her up and down. They both knew something wasn't right.

"You would tell me if something was wrong, wouldn't you?"

She shook her head, "Of course not. Why?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "You just seem…weak lately."

"I could take you right now," she said, leaning forward to get up, but cringing in pain.

"Something's up," he confirmed. "Why won't you tell me what it is?"

"I'm a big girl Fredly. I can handle myself," she tried to convince him, but it wasn't working.

He paused, trying to find the root of the problem, "So, how is it going with Alec?"

She looked away for a second, "I'm starting to regret moving in with him…but I guess everyone has their rough patches, right?"

He nodded, before stopping abruptly, "That depends. What do you mean by a 'rough patch'?"

She refused to look at him, answering quietly, "It's nothing. We're fine…"

"Sam—" he tried, but she stood up and grabbed her purse.

"Sorry Fredward, but I've got to go. Thanks for the coffee. I'll talk to you later."

He watched as she walked away, wondering what could be so wrong she had to keep it from him. What could she be hiding from him?

-

"Worthless!" he yelled, shoving her on to the couch. "You are so fuckin' worthless! How could you forget to pick up beer on the way home?"

"I don't know! Maybe because I was too busy picking up YOUR suit from the drycleaners, getting YOUR dinner, and stopping to feed YOUR mother's cat!" she said before she felt the heat of his hand against her face. She stared at him in shock.

He wiped his mouth before excusing himself quietly, "I had a hard day at work. I don't need this shit…"

"YOU don't need this shit!" she stood up and raised her arm to hit him, but he grabbed her wrist. He pressed his thumb into her wrist until tears welled up in her eyes, "Alec, you're hurting me! Alec!"

He released her, and she fell backwards onto the floor. She looked up at him as he glared down at her, "You should respect me."

"How can I respect a big bully like you?" she said, and was met to the pain of his work boots hitting her ribs. She grabbed her side and cringed.

He stared at her for a second, before shaking his head and walking into the bedroom. To change, jerk off, she really didn't care at this point. She knew what she had to do.

She grabbed the nearest cordless phone and dragged herself into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She hesitated before dialing the numbers, not wanting to trouble him, but knowing he was the only one who could help her.

"Sam?" he questioned when she didn't immediately say anything. "What's wrong?"

Because he already knew something was wrong. He knew this call was coming, and while he held the phone in one hand, he was grabbing his jacket and keys with the other.

"He…" she managed, before choking with sobs. "I need help…"

"Sam, I'm already on my way," he assured her. "Stay on the phone with me, okay?"

"Okay," she responded. She was comforted by the sound of his breathing as she curled up on the cold bathroom tile. She was unsure of when Alec would notice her absence, and she wanted Freddie there if he did.

She could hear Freddie swearing under his breath, and she could tell he was running red lights and breaking speed limits to get there.

She could hear the TV blaring and was glad that Alec was distracted. Maybe she could sneak out without him noticing. But she doubted that. That was why she called Freddie. Because he was strong, not that she'd remembered when that happened, but there was a point where she couldn't hurt him. Just like she couldn't hurt Alec.

After a few moments, she heard a car door slam, both in the headset and outside, and she stood up and unlocked the bathroom door. She heard the front door rush open and loud footsteps as he searched through a few rooms before finding her in the hallway.

By then, Alec had taken notice, and was standing in the doorway of the bedroom in boxers and a wife beater. He stared at Freddie from across the hallway, Sam caught in the middle. Alec's expression was of shock. Freddie's was humorous.

"You bastard. You're such a cliché, you know that?" he said shaking his head. "Come on Sam."

He held out his hand, and she reached for it, but Alec grabbed her arm, "Where do you think you're going?"

Freddie took a step back, chuckling, before his eyes connected with Sam's and he nodded. A second later, his knuckles met Alec's jaw, crippling him to the floor.

"Like I said," he said, taking Sam's hand. "Cliché."

-

"I'm sorry for imposing," Sam asked, as she went the closet where she knew he kept spare pillows and blankets. "Are you sure Bianca won't mind?"

He closed the door before she could take anything out, and shook his head. "We broke up weeks ago."

"But still. If I had anywhere else to go, but Carly has that thing…" she stopped, still struggling to open the closet door he was up against. "Wait, why didn't you tell us?"

"Because," he said, pulling her down the hallway to his bedroom. "Now that we're out of college, every time I'm single you set me up on these really horrible blind dates. I mean some of the girls you've set me up with…not to mention the guys!"

"Hey, the gay thing was Carly's idea. I've known you were straight all along," she said, before answering his confused stare. "You don't kiss like a gay guy. Just don't ask."

He smirked and shook his head, pulling out a pair of boxers and a t-shirt that Sam recognized at once, "You kept those?"

Not that she'd ever had reason to be possessive of Freddie's clothing, but these had been her pajamas for every sleepover they'd had while Carly visited her dad, stationed far off in a various tropical destination. She looped her finger through the hole in the 'Ridgeway A/V Club' logo, worn away from use.

"Couldn't bear to throw them away," he smiled. She shoved him out to change. "Hey, when you're done, I want to check you out."

"Excuse me?" she shouted from the other side of the door.

"I mean…for bruises and broken bones and stuff," he said quietly. "My mom's a nurse, remember?"

"Your mom is a psychopath. I'm fine Freddo, really," she said, pulling the shirt over her head.

"If you won't let me, I'll call her over here. She can make it in two minutes and fifteen seconds. I've timed her," he said threateningly.

She groaned and threw open the door, only missing him by a millimeter, "Fine!"

He came toward her slowly, "Okay, now where does it hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt," she lied. "I told you. I'm fine."

He shook his head, "Why do you have to make everything so hard?"

Before she could answer, he attacked her, throwing her on his bed and tickling her until she cried out in pain. He lifted her shirt up to her ribs, and saw the bruise left by Alec's boot. She dragged her shirt back down, but he'd already seen it.

"I'm going to kill him," he gritted through his teeth. "That's it. I'm going to kill him. Are you pressing charges? You should press charges. That rat bastard."

She sat up and rubbed his shoulder, trying to calm him down, "It's fine Fredward. I've always been a fighter. You of all people should know that."

"Exactly! How could he do this to YOU? You should be able to kill a little weasel like him," he yelled, her calming technique not quite effective.

"The whole reason I went out with him WAS because he was stronger than me," she admitted. It only made him angrier.

"That's what your standards are? A guy has to be strong? Hell, I'm stronger than him," he said, starting to sound just a little jealous.

"What are you saying Freddie?" she asked, sitting down on his bed and pulling her knees up to her chest, trying to avoid moving her sore muscles.

He dragged his eyes away from her and started pacing, "I don't know."

She chuckled, "Well, that makes two of us."

He continued to pace, and she asked, "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay!" he burst. "I can't believe you'd stay with him, just because he's stronger than you! Do you see what he did to you with his strength?"

He pulled her shirt up and let his fingers drift over her bruise, careful not to hurt her. Her skin was like porcelain; fragile.

"It's just…he made me feel delicate in comparison," she tried to explain as she watched his fingertips wander over her stomach.

He was watching too, until he looked up into her eyes, "There are other ways to do that."

-

Early in the morning, Sam's phone had started going off. She had tried ignoring it, but it was invading on her own personal bliss every time it went off.

"I'm going to have to get a new number," she commented, about ready to pitch the annoyance across the room.

Instead, he reached for it, and answered it, "No, I'm sorry Alec, she's quite busy at the moment. Oh, tell her you're sorry? I'm sorry; you're just a little too late. She's already found someone else, you know, a real man."

He snapped the phone closed without waiting for a response, before throwing it towards his closet, and curling closer to the figure beside him.

"Did you have to add that last part?" she goaded.

"Hey," he warned. "I don't want him mistaking that beast in the mirror for a man."

She pushed up on his feet so she could reach his lips, and placed a gentle kiss on them, before saying, quietly, "I never really thanked you for last night, did I?"

"Well, darling, it usually does take two to tango…" he kidded, letting one hand wander along her bare stomach.

"No," she said stopping his advance, and moving the sheet just enough to show the purplish stain on her porcelain skin. "For saving me. For being my hero."

It still hurt him to see it, along with the others he had come across last night, and he knew he would never let Alec, or anyone else, touch her like that, ever again.

"I'll never let that happen again, I promise," he swore. "No one will ever touch you the way he did."

"Or the way you did for that matter," she said, smiling as she examined his fingertips, which had been so gentle the night before. "Except you, of course."

"Sam, I need to know one thing, he said, gently pulling his fingers away. "You don't want to be with me just because I saved you, do you?"

"Freddie, I've wanted to be with you since…forever. Do you really think I looked as far as Alec for someone stronger than me at first?" he thought about it for a second before shaking his head. "No, Freddie. But I'm glad it was you who saved me, because otherwise you never would have realized how much you needed to be my hero."

"That's sort of backwards, isn't it?" he said softly, before pulling her close again.

"Freddie, we've been doing things backwards since the beginning," she reminded him. "But maybe that's the best way to do it."

He smiled and kissed her forehead, "Then thank you for letting me be your hero."

She smiled, before answering, "You're welcome."

**I just got back from Florida, and I was too out of practice to write something new, so I finished something I started a while ago. Hopefully, you can't even find the seam. I hope you liked it. Please review!**


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